‘Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse’ Nets $35M Weekend Debut

Swinging into the holiday season

The December box office rush has officially begun, and local cinemas are packed with movie options in every genre. This week “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Mortal Engines” released in theaters, taking on Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” and “Once Upon a Deadpool”. The busy release schedule doesn’t stop there, next week moviegoers will choose between “Mary Poppins Returns,” “Bumblebee,” “Aquaman,” “Second Act,” and “Welcome to Marwen”.

Sony’s “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” topped the box office this weekend with a $35.4M opening across 3,813 locations. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was directed by Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey, the film features the voice talents of Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, and Hailee Steinfeld.

“The Mule,” from Warner Bros. Pictures, took second-place overall with a $17.2M weekend across 2,588 locations. “The Mule” was directed by Clint Eastwood, the film stars Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, and Michael Peña.

The holidays helped boost “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch” to third-place, a great weekend considering that an animated Spider-Man movie just swung into theaters. The Grinchy tale brought in another $11.5M this weekend, raising the film’s six week domestic total to just under $240M. “The Grinch” was directed by Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier, the film features the voice talents of Benedict Cumberbatch, Cameron Seely, and Rashida Jones.

Disney’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet” dropped to fourth-place on the domestic charts, but the film made $9.5M this weekend. The animated comedy has now made over $154M for the studio, the movie was released in theaters four-weeks ago. “Ralph Breaks the Internet” was directed by Phil Johnston and Rich Moore and features the voice talents of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, and Gal Gadot.

Universal Pictures’ “Mortal Engines” debuted in fifth-place overall, getting stomped by the recent animated releases. The film made $7.5M across 3,103 locations, well below the estimated $100M budget. “Mortal Engines” was directed by Christian Rivers, the film features Hera Hilmar, Hugo Weaving, Jihae, and Robert Sheehan.

Not making the top five but worth mentioning is “Once Upon a Deadpool,” from FOX. The PG-13 re-release earned $2.6M across 1,566 locations.

The following week is the big one for December, with studios hoping to cash in on the after Christmas crowds. Disney will be releasing “Mary Poppins Returns” on the 19th, then “Aquaman” hits theaters on December 21st. That is also the same weekend that the new Transformers movie “Bumblebee” hits theaters, alongside the romantic-comedy “Second Act” with Jennifer Lopez and Vanessa Hudgens, and the drama “Welcome to Marwen” with Steve Carell.